CITY FOCUS: Environmental tourism

Tourism is a major part of Laguna Beach’s economy and the beach is the main attraction. So it may not be a surprise that one Laguna hotel has launched a package aimed at environmentalism.

Vacation Village partnered with extreme athlete Tom Jones to offer the Wipeout travel package, an environmentally-geared promotion. The package includes discounted room rates and a chance to win surf lessons from Jones.

A percentage of each Wipeout package will be donated to Jones’ Plastic-Free Ocean. Guests will also receive a free pack of EX Drinks, which claim to be America’s healthiest energy drink.

“The environment is a huge issue, it’s in everyone’s mind set now,” Vacation Village General Manager Kevin Johnson said.

Johnson hopes the package will be a boost to the hotel as well as to environmentalism. A clean beach is obviously important to his business, but stewardship is just as important.

Laguna Beach has some of the cleanest waters in California, recently winning the national Beach Buddy Award. But that designation is a product of constant maintenance.

“You can have a pristine area but it will only stay pristine if we take care of it,” Johnson said.

The beach in front of Vacation Village is raked by employees twice a day to weed out trash that could slip into the ocean. Johnson hopes other area resorts emulate the idea.

“It would be great to see some of the other hotels in the area come up with an environmental package,” he said.

Johnson said he hopes the promotion will bring in more guests.

Vacation Village got a face lift in 2007 to the tune of more than $1 million and Johnson said they are working on other packages like the Wipeout.

The Wipeout package is a program Jones says he is proud to lend his name to. Jones is an extreme athlete in all senses of the word, and he takes protecting the environment seriously.

Jones is a martial arts expert who pushes his body to the limit in large-scale athletic feats.

He ran 120 marathons in 120 days in 2000. Jones ran from his Huntington Beach home to New York, and then competed in the New York Marathon.

In 2007, Jones decided to compete against the elements in the name of environmental protection.

He completed the Paddle for a Plastic-Free Ocean, where he paddled on his longboard from the length of the California coastline from Oregon to Mexico.

“I felt something tremendous needs to be done,”

Jones plucked flotsam from commercial fishing operations and a large amount of trash from the water as he paddled. He said the waters along the way were littered with what he termed “a tremendous amount of debris.”

“I have kids, and I want to ocean to be something they like going to rather than something they are afraid to go to,” Jones said.

Which is why he’s glad to donate surfing lessons to Wipeout package buyers.

For more information on the Wipeout package at Vacation Village, visit www.vacationvillage.com.